What is this?

This blog was originally dedicated to my 2009 study abroad experience in Brisbane, Australia. Now, it's a weblog I update with thoughts, indulgences, and fun quirks. In the future, I hope this blog will chronicle my journey career in medicine, but also act as a cultural ethnography of my travels to come.

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i have totally been neglecting this blog… but for the next 3 weeks i won’t be updating much. i have 2 midterms next week, as well as presentations & papers due every week after that until after mid-semester break :( uploading pictures individually onto here takes awhile too & i always end up spending an hour plus on each long post with pictures, but i promise ill update once the busy period is over!

i think for the mid-semester break we’re going to the Whitsundays or Cairns up in the northern territory, so we can go to the great barrier reef & the daintree rainforest & do some snorkeling/diving. its not finalized yet but i guess we’ll see. most likely staying at hostels (what an experience?) & splurging more on the daily activities & food! im excited!!

everyone has tons of work to finish up before break starts, but its a relief that everything’s not due after the break. anyway, can’t believe school is almost half over! our last day of school is on Halloweennn (do they celebrate that here?) & then a revision (study) week, and then 2 weeks of finals! i hope my finals end early…they changed them from the nov 1-15 to nov 7-21, so if i end on the last day, ill only have 2 days to show my mom around Brisbane, then im flying to sydney!

justine!! omg so jealous! please go on that mid semester trip! i wanna go snorkeling there so badly!! and last day of class being halloween? sounds like it would be crazyyyy.. i think its like an international holiday right? if not, you can introduce it to them bahaha

i just cant work now! after a long day of classes, its just too tempting to just lay around and do absolutely nothing :O) especially when all my other apartmentmates are watching movies & i can hearrr ittt! ones watching the 6th sense (that movie is so clever!) & another is rewatching friends episodes! tempting to join in on the fun

so ive been addicted to checking my google reader everyday. for those who don’t use it, it’s pretty much an amazing tool you have to add to your bookmarks. you add the subscriptions of your favorite websites & it displays all the links & bolds then when they’ve updated since your last view! genius…
marissa showed it to me this summer & ever since adding about 15 more subscriptions, checking it has been my favorite part of my day :) so thank youu & everyone else—give it a try!

well, the rest of this post is going to be absolutely irrelevant to australia or studying abroad or whatever. lately, the weather has been more and more unpredictable, and tons of people are getting sick. in every class, i hear people coughing dry or gross, phlegmy coughs—everytime someone does so, i just stop breathing & wonder if they have swine flu & pray i dont get sick. well, finally, today my throat is entirely red & swollen. coldsores in my mouth after i bit myself while eating don’t help either :X

since i dont feel like working im going to post a bunch of pictures that are going to make me as unproductive as possible. i know ill feel very content i am getting some “rest” :)

hello my love.
yes, such is the wonder of google reader.
I’m writing this from an internet room at a budget hotel in Lesser Town of Prague which is a beautiful, beautiful city. I wish you are here so I can share some new jokes and findings I got here!
and oh, the beer tastes fine.
I got charged tourist prices for bottled water TWICE though. not fun.

keep updating! I read every single one of your entries even though I don’t comment on all of them.

what else is new… these are more things i wanted to add to my list of fun factsss-

1. australian currency is made of plastic! you can get it wet & its harder to tear or make counterfeits. theres a clear see-through part on every bill (which only come in $5 <the only smaller-sized bill>, $10, $20, $50, and $100s). pretty cool
2. everything is rounded to the nearest 5 cents. so there are no pennies here! & there are also $1 and $2 coins which are gold coloured!
3. everyone is extremely eco-friendly here. they all carry reusable shopping bags everywhere they go–to the farmers market, the library, the supermarket. when u go to the grocery store you give them your bag & they pack everything in it neatly for you. if you dont bring your bag they charge you for a compostable plastic one
4. “good on ya” means good job. no one says “you’re welcome”, instead it’s “no worries”. “how you going” is equivalent to “hello, how are you”. cookies are biscuits. candies are lollies. barbie is a bbq. no one says restroom, it’s the “toilet”. college/university is “uni”, and school is for children or toddlers. they also add “s” to everything: homeworks, maths, and all “z”s turn into “s”s here, as in “emphasising, energise” which is awfully annoying since Word automatically corrects it! tires on cars are “tyres”, and zebras are “zeh-bras”!
5. in the day, there’s usually just cricket, rugby, AFL, or car races on all the Australian tv channels. as for shows at night, it’s Australian Idol, so you think you can dance (Australia), or just american shows but the aussie version!
6. movies here usually come out weeks, if not months, later than the US release date. up isn’t playing until a few weeks later, julia & julia is coming out oct 3rd–the only thing on time was harry potter!
7. portions here are a lot tinier. you literally get what you order. a small meal is almost equiv to the kids meal back home. tons of people also go to fast food places here. hungry jacks (burger king) is always packed in the city. oh and even the jams & canned foods come in the tiniest sizes.
8. when walking on the street, besides having to look Right, Left, Right when crossing, pedestrians don’t have right of way so you must cross in the crosswalk. if you dont, they’ll continue driving and you basically need to avoid cars yourself. i also rarely see 4-way street stops here. they’re usually roundabouts, so you only need to look one way for oncoming traffic.
9. there are literally no starbucks here (ive maybe seen 1 or 2). sit down places are either Gloria Jean, or The Coffee Shop, both of which ive heard are amazing!
10. public transportation is extremely convenient here–with a daily pass, you can ride on the bus, ferry, or train all you want for that day. everyone also has Go cards here, which you tap on/off when you get on or off. you can recharge it with money at any 7-11 or newspaper stand. really convenient :)
11. all the students here seem to carry duffel bags instead of backpacks. and kids in school all wear uniforms, regardless of public/private school. uniforms come in all sorts of colors. some are really interesting, with hats, scarves, ribbons or ties (yes, even for girls!)
12. drug store brand of makeup is so expensive. maybelline mascara (the pink/green one) that’s like $5/6 US is at least $15 here. shocking
13. australia gets very little rainfall so everyone tries to save water. all the bathrooms & sinks have signs reminding you to save water. the toilets here have 2 buttons too-one for #1 duty, the other for #2. the showers in our apartment come with small shower hourglasses set for 4 min for you to use
14. the australian phone ring is different-its short & not as sharp. fire alarms too! they start off as a beeping, then become this loud ringing siren that sounds like somethings about to explode.
15. tax is already added on to everything you buy. so a shirt that has a price of $30 is $30 when you pay. sadly, tax here is supposedly also almost 10% too!

Hi!! This is my first comment ever on your blog. Anyway I tried the Google reader thing and thanks so much for the amazing discovery!! SO convenient to keep tabs on everything YAY. :)

Anyway reading this post reminded me so much of my friends from Australia that I met on my Taiwan program last summer!! 2 were from Melbourne and 1 from Sydney I believe. I learned so much from them…like McDonald’s there is “Mackas” and the “uni” thing and sunglasses=”sunnies” and they don’t know what “barf” means and Brisbane isn’t pronounced “Brisbayne” but more like “Brisbin” right?? Anywayyy this post hella reminded me of them hehehe

currently: snacking on banana chips & listening to Hot Mess—Cobra Starship
recap of my week! i took a lot of photos i love so ill be adding a lot of new ones into the Photos page :) i dont think ive ever put up this many photos in one post.. prepare yourself!!

tuesday: class started at 10 and there was a lab right after. we dissected a human brain & were learning about the various anatomical locations, which i never thought would be so difficult to identify bc there were so many cross sections to analyze. afterwards, i quickly went to grab a bite at a nearby cafeteria with a friend, both of us smelling disgusting, & the food totally reminded me of USC dorm food which just made me think of home :( after taking a nap, eating dinner, we went to go watch The Ugly Truth. took the ferry to South Bank, which is soo beautiful at night, and we got there and realized it was sold out! the other movies we weren’t too keen on seeing, so we decided to go to Indooroopilly. along the way we stopped by 7-11 to buy snacks, thinking it would be cheaper & better than those at the cinema.. who knew, it was so so expensive (is a pack of gum for $5 normal? small bag of m&ms $3.50, small bag of chips $3!!). welll we got to el dorado & it was such a cute little theatre, really cozy & barely anyone there, quite ideal :) the movie was surprisingly good. i didnt expect to really love it bc it looked like another typical chick flick w/a predictable plot but this one’s funnier bc their acting is hilarious :O and i think gerard butler has gorgeous eyes! i love his green eyes! hmm..by the time the movie ended it was already 11 so we decided to just walk back home…which took one hr but i never realized it’s so beautiful at night. we walked across the field, looked up, and saw tons of stars. theres not much light pollution here, but ill bet it still doesn’t compare to the meteor shower that just happened back home, which i missed :(

Brisbane city from the ferry stop at South Bank

walkway to main st of South Bank

walkway :) can't imagine how gorgeous itll be once all the vines fill in!

wednesday: EKKA exhibition!
we were originally gonna leave at 9 or 10am, but decided we should just go later so we didn’t have to leave so early at night. we took the ferry there, and transferred to a train in the city. the train was packed & EKKA was even more crowded! its such a big deal, there are trains and buses from the city to EKKA every 10 min! even though EKKA goes on for ~10 days, wednesday was brisbane’s holiday so everyone got a day off to go. before i got off the train, which led us into the center of the whole exhibition, i saw all the carnival rides & flags & roller coasters and there was soo much going on! it was basically a small theme park/carnival with horse-racing (which people got soo dressed up for! gotta love the huge hats though), wood chopping (went to watch, and it was surprisingly intense. those guys are soo strong!!! & they chop a tree trunk that has a diameter of my body (yes, very big) in about less than 30 seconds! so fun, and everyone left with sawdust sprinkled all over hehe), railroad racing, home & garden & leisure centers (with all sorts of decoration contests), international food pavillion, farm animals/pet competitions, stand up comedy & music (katy perry was there…i missed it though! i cant believe it), and tons of small game/shopping centers. i had no idea there was so much going on & in the end didnt get to see it all :( i had a ticket for a fashion show ft australian designers’ collections but didn’t have time to go! & i didnt get to ride the horses & see a lot of the pavillions. ohh well it was fun anyway :)

halfway through it started sprinkling, then raining (while a double, then triple rainbow appeared!), then it started really pouringggggg. but luckily we went inside a showbag pavillion (where they sell tons of goodies/candies/products) in bag sets for a certain price, and stayed dry there. its funny bc inside is crazy. every kid is wearing some type of rainbow wig/afro/halloween costume ensemble that they just bought, and everyones buying something! they also had a taste testing place where u could try new products/wines/teas/ice creams/foods, so that was really fun! around 8 or so, while everything was beginning to close down, we went to go watch part of the closing ceremony, caught a glimpse of an American cowboy guy doing horse tricks & making his horse go through fire & whatnot (there was lightning at a distance around the stadium the whole time, but no thunder. it was really pretty in a weird way) and some monster car show. we decided to beat the traffic back home, so we missed most of the closing ceremony & the fireworks.. maybe itll be online. hehe such a tiring day, but i see why people make an effort to go each year :) & the pictures below are only about 1/4 of all the photos i took. it’s taking forever to upload, so maybe ill add it into the Photo page another day

i love the teddy bears!!! but later i looked at this photo & realized, the couple in it are so cute!

showbag pavillion—tons of peopleee

a few of the rides

so high up

my favorite, or should i say "favourite", photo

not cotton candy—it's called fairy floss here!

equestrian—if this were fb, id tag esther here :)

the brisbane broncos—rugby team signing

yes, that's a balloon! that he later went into!

double rainbow; after this, there was a 3rd, but it didnt show up on camera

strawberry sundaes!

stand with cute pillows & shoes!!

the coolest shirt!! the bars lit up & changed w/the music!

fresh food pavillion-location of all the taste testing :)

inside the pavillion

australian hibiscus in the garden center

in the garden centre—flower arranging contest celebrating Queensland's 150th anniversary. each of the small pots at the bottom are $5+, the ones at the top & middle are all at least $10!

apologies for not posting in awhile.. but it’s hard to find time when im trying to be lazy and not productive when i have spare time :) i barely remember what ive done since last week.. lets see!

friday i stayed home though i had no classes & cooked! quite time consuming but i must eat healthily & be creative (another excuse for being lazy)

the closest thing to chinese food here

i also discovered this download program uq has called DC++, a sorta kazaa/limewire program that you can download files from other users in the same network. as soon as i signed on i dl-ed like 10 movies… so i watched gone with the wind and my fair lady, just to catch up with the old classics. & since i havent seen harry potter yet, i dled that, as well as life is beautiful (which ive heard is amazing) & old favs. sex & the city & devil wears prada. i just watched little miss sunshine… hahh it’s like wow all over again. i think we’re going to go see the ugly truth next tues, & maybe my sister’s keeper. just hope its not too soggy. but i really want to watch Ponyo! i love that director, he was the creator of Totoro & that was just too cute!

saturday we decided to go to a soiree at the international house, and there i tried kangaroo meat for the first time! it tasted like a mix between chicken and beef, and was much leaner so it took a good deal of chewing to get it down but it was good nonetheless. no ostrich meat there, but we had fondue, got henna done on our hands, played the african drums, watched people sing and dance and cook, & met lots of people from other countries. after hanging out for awhile, we took the ferry downtown to south bank & went to the queensland museum. on the way there, we passed by this rainforest walk which gave us a taste of the rainforest, as well as a nepalese pagoda! it’s so beautiful because all of this is on the side of the river, so on one side is greenery and museums while the river’s on your right side :) at one point we saw this street performer, with a crowd of people surrounding him, yet were also hesitant to go near him since he did look funky & was playing a weird, loud, deep, horn-like instrument, the “Didgeridoo”. well, when i got a picture he just happened to stop playing & was making funny faces & inviting little children to take pictures with him.. hehe i like his glasses. his shirt is interesting i suppose

the funnest street performer :)

in front of rainforest walk entrance

nepalese pagoda

on our way to the museum, we came across this ice cream truck, and a very long line by it! it was playing bizarre circus music but i guess that didnt scare anyone away. it was hot so so many people were waiting. i still like US ice cream trucks better :) they’re cuter!

ice cream truck. it said "I love Fat" on the side

didnt take many pictures inside the museum, bc they didn’t allow pictures for most of it, but here are a few!

inside qld museum

:)

it was getting late so after a few of them went to a street dance in south bank while the rest of us went back to the city bc my friend wanted to buy a dress she saw the day before there. after doing a bit of grocery shopping, which is we realized.. so expensive in the city, we finally headed back on a very crowded bus (yes, asia crowded status)

park in the city

today, i went to the city again to run a few errands & shopped. there are so many americans its actually pretty unbelievable. i guess since it’s summer break everyones coming here for vacation. well tomorrow i dont think i have class..but i have anatomy tues w/a gross anatomy lab where we get to dissect our first brain. i hope it won’t be disappointing! a movie tues night & wednesday we’re heading to EKKA!!! i hear the food has been amazing, and everyone who stops by the city on the way back has been carrying tons of showbags & carnival goodies so im excited! i hear it’s “hillbilly heaven”. whatever that means, i am sure itll be an experience :) thursday, a few of my friends are going rock climbing at kangaroo point from 5-11 pm. not sure if i should go since ive done it before but didnt enjoy it too much bc so scared of heights!! hehe my palms are sweating thinking about it

well midsemester break is week of september 28th, but im still indecisive & unsure of my plans. i assume ill be staying in australia, since tickets to any other country is, as of now, all more than $300 one way. i want to go to Uluru & the outback, and maybe a rainforest and national park, but i think we may go to the Whitsundays, which are a bunch of small islands (74 to be exact) & so so gorgeous…. both sound good :) my friend did some research & also discovered a small day tour that leaves to a nearby island where there are wild dolphins that you can feed & possibly swim with! i want to go during a weekend! & another thing on our to do list is visit the famous XXXX brewery! & also go to this famous waterfall in the gold coast called Natural Arch Waterfall in springbrook. so many things to do!

hmm… creating this title i just realized that since coming here, i always have to write dates in dd/mm/yr format. it bugs me so much bc they say a day like 10/30 doesn’t exist, and the right way is 30/10. so today it’s 05/08/09. ahhahahahhahh man its confusing :( my little tiny brain cant handle this! hahahah

anyway! this week has been pretty crazy. ive been forcing myself to go to as many classes at the gym as possible, so i went to a yoga, pilates, kickboxing, and self defense class. hahahhhaa i am so sore it’s really made me realize how out of shape i am. im in quite a sad sad situation here! never thought id say this but thank god for the hills on campus…although they definitely slow me down when i need to get to my classes. i just registered at the gym today, and it cost me almost $300 for 3 months—its the most expensive gym membership ive ever paid for so i really really need to push myself to go at least 3 or 4 times a week. HAHAHA what a joke since i never went to lyon center back at sc even though that was right next door!

for the classes, yoga was very relaxing and surprisingly tiring but i love it since it forces you to focus on posture & your breathing while you stretch & do certain poses/movements. pilates was okay bc our instructor was from italy so she barely knew english and kept on lifting her shirt to show us her very-fit-stomach-for-a-40-yr-old (haha) and attempted to teach us how to use our muscles correctly. & then the kickboxing body combat class was pretty killer. there were so many leg raises & kicks & punches involved i thought my limbs were going to fall off after! but i love how the music is so upbeat & the instructors are hilarious since they make up funny lyrics with the song to keep you motivated. as for the self defense class, i can gladly say ive learned how to correctly kick someone in the crotch, get up off the ground after falling, get out of a strangle (& then strangle the other person back if i want), and push someone away while shouting meanly, “STOP!!” but sadly each time afterwards i start laughing. oh well at least i made an attempt :) thank you very much @laurenml (haha, aww not on twitter to tag you!) for inspiring me to go although it required the very sad story of the girl who was killed in LA :( :( :(

ok! enough about working out (since i just ate chocolate this is starting to make me feel guilty). tutorials (or “tuuts” as they pronounce the word here) started this week, and i have one of the discussions at 9 am tomorrow. classes& discussions are so long they’re always at least 2 hours each. :\ but funny thing is in my australian discussion its pretty much 3/4 full of americans! lots of them are from the east coast but i did meet someone from santa cruz! so close to home :) oh & for some reason lots of my professors have american “accents” since they also taught back in the states, so i feel like im not in a foreign country at all.

what else is new… oh! i dont have class next week monday to wednesday so i have a 6 day break! i should take advantage of this & go some place far :) I WANT TO GO TO FIJI!!! doesn’t this look amazing?!!!

Fiji—i want to jump right into this photo :)

hehe if only… stupid EKKA :)

hope you are all having a wonderful week. school’s starting soon so enjoy the rest of your summer! its starting to feel like summer here already, though it’s still “winter”. i guess winter means mid 70s! im not complaining :O)

july is finally over which means from here on it’s only going to get warmer!! im so jealous when i see peoples summer pictures and they’re all wearing shorts & tees! but i think by the time it really gets that hot here, ill be leaving :( and then back to US winter it is! haha ohh well hopefully the christmas spirit back home will make up for it, although i did really want to experience xmas here in the summer! i heard they have a bbq & go to the beach. hahaha

ayway, im really excited for EKKA! its a huge state fair/festival that brisbane has each year & its coming august 12th! theres a carnival, huge contest convention center, showroom selling lots of souvenirs/goodies, exhibits, fashion show ft the latest australian designers, & tons of food tasting booths! travelers come from the different states & various countries to experience it, so i can’t wait! we get two or three days off of lecture, so im sure itll definitely be really amazing :) this is the last year before they’re renovating the whole pavillion where it’s held at each year, so i am quite thankful i get to experience it before it changes!

on another note, another week of classes is starting.. noooo :( well uq has this come & try week where you get to go take all these classes @ the gym for free so i will go test it out. my apartmentmate went to pole dancing lessons & said it was a little awkward but fun. hehe im probably going to pilates & yoga later, & kickboxing another day. i need to enroll in one of these classes & get in shape!

well not much else is new here. since classes have started im assuming i wont go to many places except fri-sunday so until then!! :)